The God, the Sword, and the Cat
by Vaehloren the Storm Dragon
Summary: On the night that Yato and Hiyori saved Milord, Hiyori was just a moment too late to save Yato from harm. Not only does this change the plot quite a bit, but it also changes Hiyori's role in it; from weak bystander to... a cat demon? What is this madness? Now with Hiyori the cat demon, Yato the stray god, and Yukine the Regalia, what will become of the three? Rated T just in case.
1. The Self-Proclaimed God

**Chapter 1**

 **Salvette Omnes!**

 **Seeing as this is the first story I'll be posting on Fanfiction, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please leave favorites, follows, and reviews if you like it. If you don't... well, seeing as this is the first chapter, there's no need for you to read the next chapter if I post it, though if you feel like reading it anyways, by all means! Oh, and I'll give a shoutout to whoever figures out which language I'm using every now and then other than English.**

 **Nunc Fabula Leges!**

* * *

It had been a long few days, Yato decided. Ever since Tomone quit, he'd been a bit lonely, but he didn't have time for that. He had to go find Milord the cat.

"Milord!" He shouted again as he walked down the street. Finally, he gave his voice a rest and kept walking.

He walked past a few girls and watched the last one pass him. To his surprise, the girl turned to watch him pass by as well, clearly not thinking much of him. Then he looked past her and his heart leapt with joy. _Finally!_ "Milord!" He proceeded to charge out into the street without even bothering to look both ways first.

Just as he reached the cat, a pair of hands met his back and he was shoved out of the way of a speeding bus. There was a thump, and then he landed on the sidewalk. The tracksuit-clad god gasped and looked back.

It was the same girl who'd seen him. Her body lay in a crumpled heap in front of the bus, unmoving. _What have I done?_

"HIYORI!"

"NOOOOOO!"

Her friends rushed out towards her.

"Hey! What happened?" A man asked.

"A girl jumped in front of the bus!"

Then panting caught his attention and his head turned to the side, where he saw the girl sitting there right next to him, pink tail waving around behind her in agitation.

"That's dangerous, you know! Jumping into the street like that! You could've died!"

He stared at her in a bit of astonished shame and then remembered. "Oh, err, more importantly…" He looked back into the street.

She turned around and froze.

"Hiyori? Hiyori?" Her friend was kneeling over her limp body, shaking it. "Say something, Hiyori! Hiyori!"

"Is she alright?"

"I just called for an ambulance!"

"Huh? Huh? Huh!? Wha…!?"

She proceeded to go into shock and pass out, returning to her own body. He watched dumbly as the ambulance took her away before realizing what happened. A girl just nearly died to save his life. He should at least thank her, but the ambulance already left.

And so, the underappreciated (in his opinion) god began the long process of tracking her down to find her and say his thank-yous.

He finally found her in a hospital at midnight. Painfully aware of his lack of a Regalia, and noticing she was reacting to the voices of ayakashi, he did the sensible thing and teleported directly to her.

It was just bad luck that he would up in her bed, but he didn't care. "You can hear the voices of the far shore?"

He gave her a cat-like smile.

She proceeded to shriek like a banshee and move like a cat (on all fours and everything) to the couch where she arched her back and hissed demonically at him. For a moment, he wondered if she was an ayakashi herself and tried to calm her down. "Guess you're okay if you can move like that."

She, thankfully, calmed down. "You're that guy!"

"Thanks for this morning!" He stuck his tongue out at her and winked. "I didn't really need help avoiding that bus," he stood up and walked over to the other couch, "But you're the first human to ever help me."

"Wh-who are you?"

He turned and smiled at her. "I'm a god."

She grabbed her phone and curled up. "Hello, police? There's a weird guy in a jersey who says he's a God."

 _CRAP_! "Wait, wait wait! I really am a genuine, bonafide, member of the gods! I'm the Yato God!"

"Yato God?"

For a moment, from the way she said it like she'd heard it before, his heart soared…

"I've never heard of that God before. Not even once."

...Before it was cruelly smashed into a thousand pieces.

"Well, I'm kind of an up and coming stray god right now," He tried to defend himself (in a rather self deprecating way), "But just you watch! I'll soon be known far and wide! I'll become a god that everyone will bow and wish to! And then… I will someday stand as this land's highest god!"

* * *

Hiyori, despite being slightly creeped out by his laugh, thought the whole thing was just so ridiculous it had to be true. She couldn't help but find the guy to be a bit cute, like a fluffy house cat that thinks they're king of the world.

He erupted into a coughing fit and interrupted himself.

"It's going to be a rough night tonight, plus this place is crawling with them." He murmured, looking concerned. "I can't really stick around without a sacred treasure."

Then he started eating her snacks.

"Nora's already in use tonight, so…"

"Wait, that's for me!"

"Hey, what's your name?" He asked.

"Hiyori. Iki Hiyori."

"Hiyori," He tried the name. "Alright, I've made sure you're okay."

"Huh?"

He walked at a bit of a rushed pace to the window and stood on the sill. "See ya!"

"Wai…"

He then jumped out the window.

Suddenly, her body felt heavy, and she fell asleep.

* * *

The next day, it was almost as though nothing had happened at all. She woke up in the hospital, was discharged from said hospital, and went to school just like any other day. It was hard to believe this Yato person had even existed. Perhaps he was just a hallucination, just like everyone around her was saying.

As she walked to her class, two familiar voices called out to her. "Hiyori!"

She smiled at the two speakers. "Ami! Yama!"

"Are you all better now?" Ami asked.

"Yeah." Hiyori nodded happily.

"Man, I'm glad you didn't get hurt." Yama shoved her playfully.

"Sorry for worrying you." Hiyori apologized.

"Jump into the street again and I'll smack you with a Jungle Savate." Yama joked.

"I bet she wouldn't mind a smack from her dear Tonto." Ami teased.

"Oh you." Yama laughed.

Hiyori suddenly stumbled, feeling tired and weak. She fell to the ground.

"Woah, Hiyori!" Yama gasped.

"S-sorry." Hiyori responded, getting up. "I suddenly get really drowsy sometimes."

"Huh?" Ami asked.

"Were you up all night playing video games?" Yama asked.

Hiyori rubbed the back of her neck and laughed sheepishly.

As the day continued, similar incidents occurred. It was finally after school had gotten out that her friends finally confronted Hiyori about it.

"Are you okay, Hiyori? You seemed kinda out of it today." Yama asked her.

"Yeah. I've just been really sleepy."

"Maybe you slept too much in the hospital?" Ami suggested.

"The accident was just the other day." Yama commented.

Hiyori stopped, something attracting her attention.

What she'd experienced had not been just some hallucination or weird dream. It had happened. This poster. Yato had been looking for the cat on this poster. Everything was clearer than ever now. _If I find this cat, I'll find him!_ Hiyori realized. She'd find him.

Noticing she'd stopped, her friends paused. "What is it, Hiyori?" Yama asked.

Ami's eyes found the poster. "Oh, it's that cat from the other day!"

Believing that she would follow them, they turned to continue.

Hiyori turned and gave a loud cry of, "Milord!"

Her friends looked back, confusion written over their faces.

Hiyori turned to them. "Sorry, you guys. Go on without me."

"Huh?" They asked.

"I must henceforth locate Milord." She declared. And with that, she turned on her heel and ignored their incredulous exclamations, too absorbed in her current task to care much.

 _If I find the cat, I find Yato. Then I can get some answers._

* * *

 **So, how was it? The real AU will begin next chapter, this is just the long prologue for it. I would keep going, but I think cutting it now is a good idea. I hope you keep reading, because things get interesting next chapter.**

 **Valette Mea Amici!**


	2. Tails?

**Chapter 2**

 **Salve Mea Amici!**

 **If you've read this far, then I can assume you're either actually interested in the story or you're just waiting for me to get to the freaking point already. Hint on the language, no, it is not Spanish. One must be a true nerd to harness the power of the language I've been saying hello in. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. If you don't, then feel free to go ahead and hit one of those fancy little buttons that will take you far away from my story. I would, however, truly enjoy it if you stayed to read this story. Anyways, I'll get to the point.**

 **Vallete, Mea Lectoris!**

* * *

"Milord! Milord!" Hiyori suddenly spotted movement and looked at a cat on a fence, which hissed and fled. The next cat she saw, under a car, wasn't Milord either.

She'd been searching for hours now. Now that she thought about it, she'd also forgotten to call her parents and tell them she was looking for a cat, not in some accident or kidnapped by weird guys pretending to be gods or something. She didn't bother to now. She'd just explain herself later rather than allow herself to be ordered home immediately because she was, honestly, being a bit stupid by spending all this time looking for somebody else's lost cat.

Mid-step, her body felt heavy again, and her eyes drifted closed. She stumbled and then righted herself. _I'm feeling drowsy again_.

Suddenly, a strange scent wafted into her nose. It wasn't a bad smell. In fact, it smelled quite good, but she'd never quite smelled anything like it. It didn't remind her of food, nor did it remind her of flowers. It was... unique. _This smell..._

* * *

"Hey, Milord!" Yato called, waving around a fishing pole with catnip on it. "Come out! I got some nice catnip!" He shivered slightly as the feeling of many, many Ayakashi gathered. "It's getting really rough now."

Then he heard a cat's meow. He turned and looked down the alley the meow had come from and voila! There was milord!

"Milord! Wait right there, don't run."

The cat, instead of staying put like it was asked, jumped and turned to face him, tail curled and bristling, and then he charged straight at Yato, as if in defiance of all cat-instincts that would usually caution one to run away from the strange human-like being calling to them. Yato looked down at the small creature shivering against him while digging in with its claws. "Huh? What's wrong?"

"Smells nice."

He jumped, and then decided to get a good look around him.

"Smells nice."

"Smells nice."

In the short time he'd been paying attention to Milord, he had been completely surrounded by small, eye-shaped Ayakashi.

 _This is bad_. He was quick to remember that Tomone (the traitor) had quit, so he had no regalia to fight these Ayakashi with. In this situation, he was weak. Very week indeed.

He lunged out of the circle of Ayakashi only barely escaping, as they converged onto his previous location. He fled the alley and landed in another, and was quickly surrounded once more.

"They're small fries, but there's too many of them." He spoke, deciding he was talking to the cat and not to himself. "Far too many to deal with!" He leapt away from another attack and they charged after him again. His attention turned to the terrified lost cat. "You teased them, didn't you?" He scratched it a bit. Milord meowed, as if in objection to this claim. "You take your merriment too far, Milord." Yato joked.

Yato jumped a fence, Ayakashi converging on him in ever growing numbers, and raced onto a field.

Now another, deeper voice spoke.

"Smells nice."

A massive, frog-like Ayakashi emerged from the soil and stood in front of him.

Many small Ayakashi behind him, one big one in front of him. In other words, he was surrounded yet again.

The Ayakashi roared and charged, only serving to frighten the cat. Yato quickly shoved Milord into his shirt and leapt to get away from the ayakashi's mouth, kicking it in the process. He didn't even notice yet that the others had stopped attacking when he faced off against the ayakashi, old instinct in. He lunged and extended one arm. "Come, Hanki!"

Then he remembered, with a pit of dread sinking into his gut.

Tomone quit.

And with that, the crushing blow of the ayakashi hit him full force and, combined with his own momentum, sent him flying.

His world filled with red. His head reeled from the force of the blow and simultaneously spun, his ears ringing as his senses scrambled to catch up with him. He felt something slam into his back that he slid across, only serving to further scramble his senses.

His hearing returned, giving him the ability to head Milord's frantic shrieking and he pried his eyes open.

He could see the blurry shape of the ayakashi leaning over him, ready to go in for the kill, and then it was flung away, something distinctly pink having run into it head on.

Someone, he realized, was speaking to him. "...Hol...n. I'll...you'll... ne! ... mo...ent!"

The world, he realized, seemed to be getting dimmer. _Huh,_ he wondered, _when was the last time I was knocked out like this?_

And with those thoughts, the world faded away.

* * *

EARLIER

Hiyori ran towards the scent. It probably had nothing to do with Yato or the cat, but she felt like she simply _needed_ to figure out what that was. The strange eye-creatures paid her no heed as she ran by them, too busy chattering about something that smelled nice to care.

...Wait a minute, how did _eyes_ smell things? They're _eyes_ , not _nostrils_!

Well, she supposed that the whole 'logic' thing would have to take a backseat for now. Hopefully, she wasn't going crazy. Besides, _she_ was going to find what that smell was, and in her mind they were merely competition to see who found it first.

There was a thump and she turned to see her body lying on the ground. "Wait, when did that happen?"

Something pink flowed from the corner of her eyes, and she turned to see it.

It looked like a tail.

She turned and watched it, trying to find what it was attached to, but all she found was another fluffy pink tail.

Was it circling around behind her?

She whipped around the other way, and saw nothing.

She finally looked closer, and realized that, in fact, the tails were coming from her. When she went to grab one, she realized her hands had seemingly grown claws as well. Hiyori's face took on a deadpan expression. "There's a weird smell, strange disembodied eyes that can speak and smell it, I've fallen out of my body twice now, and I just grew tails and claws. What next?"

She suddenly heard a familiar voice shout something, and her head snapped up. "Yato?"

Ignoring the tails for now, she left her body lying in the bush she'd been in the process of jumping over when she'd dropped it, and darted through the crowd much faster than she was able to before, and saw Yato just as the idiot stopped short in his bare-handed charge of the giant blue and green frog thing just before it smashed its leg into him and sent him flying through the air with enough force to kill a normal person.

"YATO!" She screamed.

She flung herself over the fence and didn't bother caring about the fact that she was probably going to go the same way as the moron as she charged it. The creature itself leapt and landed right above Yato, and mustering all her strength she crashed into it with a massive "JUNGLE SAVATE!"

This time, it was the frog's turn to go flying. Hiyori didn't even have time to marvel at her success as she turned and knelt by the bleeding, half-conscious form of Yato, who had somehow managed to protect Milord from harm. Said cat was currently wailing and trying desperately to get out of his shirt and run to safety, but the cat was not her main concern at the moment.

"Yato, I told you to be more careful, you idiot!" She looked him over once. He was in very bad shape. At least a few of his ribs were broken, his arm had a bone sticking out of it, he was bleeding in quite a few places, showed clear signs of a concussion, and had a strange purple infection in a few of his wounds. One of his legs was also swelling up, probably broken as well from the way he fell on it like a limp ragdoll, and he looked otherwise like somebody used him as a test dummy for some kind of bomb. "Okay Yato, I just need you to hold on. I'll get you to my dad, and he's a doctor so you'll be fine!" There was a roar and a crash as the frog righted itself. "You'll just have to wait a moment, okay?"

She didn't have time to make sure he was okay. He was out, and they were surrounded by these creatures that wanted to kill them. If she wanted to get Yato, the cat, and herself out of this alive, then she would have to use the strange speed and strength she'd gained in order to defeat these creatures. She knew the basics of how to do so because of watching her god fight, all she needed to do was use the moves she'd seen, like she'd just done with the Jungle Savate.

She became aware of the smaller ones backing away, as if watching to see who won. With a sinking feeling, she realized the one she was up against was strong.

Seeing as she'd pissed it off, it decided to leave the god for dessert and eat her first. It charged straight at her, and she sprang away, leading it away from Yato. With surprise, she noted how far one leap had taken her. She had cleared well out of the way of the frog's landing area and noticed that she'd left clawmarks on the ground when she stopped herself. _So they're on my feet too, huh? Just what happened to me exactly?_

It leapt again, attacking with its tongue, and she doeged the strikes easily and landed a kick of her own. The realization came swiftly: _I can dance circles arount ehis thing!_

The claws on her feet had left deep ruts in the thing's face, which had split apart. Strange gooey purple fluid was at work putting it back together, and she made a quick decision to keep attacking with her claws. This time, she went after an eye. It leapt up, and she planted a foot down and, feeling confident, sprang up and sheared its stomach open. It landed, but it quickly became apparent that she'd done nothing but piss it off.

She had realized, however, that it was very fragile. Not only was it almost like she was punching a water balloon, but her claws had cut through it like butter and had cut deeper gouges than she'd even intended to cut. With that in mind, she attacked again, dodging the grasping tongue several times before she grabbed one of its legs. She slashed with her claws, simultaneously pulling with her feet braced into the creature's side, and was flung backwards with the limb. The frog flailed around before another one popped out of its side and with a loud outcry of rage resumed the assault of its tongue, this time faster than ever. She backpedaled to avoid the assault, and then her new speed failed her as she tripped over her own foot and careened backwards into a sloppy roll. The creature landed right above her, and she dug her feet into the ground and leapt upwards.

This time, she snagged its eyes.

She landed behind it as the thing shrieked and turned tail, finally having enough of the fight. Hiyori sighed in relief, then immediately returned to Yato and Milord. The eye things left the area, not willing to fight with her and lose as the stronger one had. She quickly raced to the wire fence and used her new claws to cut off one of the wires and the strength she was glad this (Body? Form? Whatever it was) came with in order to straighten it out. A quick trip back to her body allowed her to both haul it back to Yato and make a splint out of the wire and her scarf (she'd have to wash it off later) and twisted the ends to make it into a sling, then put it on his badly broken left arm. The rest would have to wait until later.

And now came the problem(s).

One: How did she carry her body and Yato to her father at the same time?

Two: How was she supposed to get back into her body afterwards?

Three: What the hell was she supposed to do with the cat?

She reached out towards her body, and her hand went into it.

 _Hopefully, my body is strong enough to carry Yato in._

And she sunk back into it.

Immediately, she found herself forcing it to wake up. Tired from her body's rest and head spinning slightly, she stood up and walked over to Yato. A shake of her head later and she lifted him onto her back, careful of his arm, and the cat solved the problem of what to do with it by clinging to his shirt with its claws and hopefully not hurting him more.

She walked to the fence and stared at it blankly.

Okay, new problem.

How was she supposed to get all of them over the fence?

One long and difficult journey later, and she had finally arrived at her house. She proceeded to knock on the door with her head, because all of her other extremities were busy supporting her weight and holding the self-proclaimed god and cat on her back. "DAD! I NEED YOUR HELP! THERE'S AN INJURED PERSON!"

The door was opened, and her father blinked at her. "Hiyori? What's wrong?"

"IDIOT!"

He looked at the boy on Hiyori's back, and did a double-take as if just only now realizing he was there. "Bring him inside. I'll see what I can do for him here, then we'll take him to the hospital."

She nodded and sat by while her father looked at him. "What happened?"

Hiyori had already come up with a story to tell. "He was hit by a car. It was a hit and run, and I didn't see the license plates."

"What did it look like?" Her mother, awoken by all of the noise, asked.

"It was small, but it was going too fast for me to get a good look at what type it was, and I was too far away at the time to tell."

She narrowed her eyes. "Asshole. Nearly kills a person and... Is that a cat?"

Hiyori nodded. "He was holding it when he got hit."

She sighed. "Well at least it didn't get hurt."

"Alright, honey, start the car. I need to get him to the hospital now. The night staff can have a look at him. Hiyori, get some rest and..."

"No. I'm going with you. I brought him this far, and..."

"It's not up for debate. I'll tell you how he is in the morning." Her father carried Yato to the car. "Besides, you should watch over his cat for now until we know who he is and can take it back home."

Hiyori nodded reluctantly and allowed herself and Milord to be ushered up to her room.

"Meow!" Milord cried.

Hiyori scowled out the window. She was going to make sure Yato was okay, and at least give him the cover story she'd thought up so that nobody thought he was crazy or anything.

Now, all she had to do was figure out how to get out of her body in the next minute, and she'd make it on time.


	3. The Overprotective Cat

**Chapter 3**

 **Salvette omnes! I'm sorry I haven't been on in a while, but even though school's out... I'm still going to school. Lucky me. Anyways, I probably still won't be frequently updating, but I had some spare time so I decided to do so. Anyways, I hope you didn't wait to long and that you enjoy the story!**

* * *

When they arrived at the hospital, Yato was looked over by the doctors, and Hiyori wasn't sure what exactly they did before she arrived and used his scent to locate the room he was in, waiting first until the doctors left before she did so. She decided to enter through the window of his room. He was awake now, and staring at the ceiling in confusion.

"You should really be more careful!" Hiyori snapped at him.

He jumped, and then winced. "What? Iki Hiyori? What are you doing he…"

"Don't tell me you already forgot." Hiyori sighed.

He blinked. "Milord!"

"The cat's safe. I brought him back to his house. You on the other hand…" She sighed. "What was that thing, and why would you charge it headlong without a weapon like that?"

He laughed sheepishly. "S-sorry about that. I guess you're the one who saved me, aren't you?" Hiyori nodded. Then Yato blinked. "That's not what you looked like last time you lost your body."

"Yes it is. It's just not like the first time."

"How many times…"

"This is the third." Hiyori responded, walking into the room. "Honestly, for someone who claims to be a god, you're pretty weak if you couldn't even defeat that crybaby overgrown frog."

He twitched. "Did you just come here to insult me?"

"No." Hiyori replied. "I came here to check on you."

"Well… actually…" He shifted uncomfortably. "That creature you apparently _fought_ was called an Ayakashi. Ayakashi are spirits of the Far Shore, what humans tend to call the afterlife. You live on the Near Shore, the land of the living. Ayakashi are the spirits of the dead that feed off of negative emotions."

"So that's what I was hearing when I was in here yesterday." Hiyori realized.

He nodded. "Hospitals… aren't a happy place. A lot of people die in them and become Ayakashi, and Ayakashi like to attack people like me; Gods. As for what you are… I think you're a half-Ayakashi, but I'm not so sure. You linger on the edge of the near and far shore. I thought your tail was your soul cord, but apparently you have two of them, so I'm not so sure."

"The point is," Hiyori replied, "The hospital is swarming with these Ayakashi and you're defenseless, especially like this."

He looked down, sheepishly, clearly biting back his pride. "Could you maybe… stay, at least until morning?"

Hiyori nodded and sat down in one of the chairs. "So how did you beat that thing?" Yato asked idly.

"I'm a lot stronger and faster in this body than I am in my physical one." Hiyori replied. "I'm still not sure what this one is."

"That's, in essence, your soul."

"So, am I dead?"

"No, you're body's just asleep."

Hiyori nodded. "Oh. Anyways, I also have claws now," She showed him what her fingernails and fingertips had turned into; rather long and deadly claws. "I ran circles around it and attacked it until it ran away."

"Oh." He responded.

"After that, the other ones left me alone." Hiyori finished.

"The other ones?"

"The small, eye-like… Ayakashi, right?

He nodded "Oh. Those ones."

A whisper rose in the room, and Hiyori spotted an Ayakashi in the corner. "Smells nice…" She grabbed it and threw it out the window. It squealed and fell. The rest of the night passed that way. Eventually, Hiyori forced Yato to go to sleep, and stayed up, protecting him. Eventually, the rest of the Ayakashi in the hospital got the point. This time, when one came in and muttered, _"Smells nice."_ It also muttered " _Nekomata's_ " before that. She assumed that meant that the rest of the Ayakashi recognized that he was off limits.

He blinked his eyes open at sunrise, and Hiyori stood up. "I have to go back to my body now. Will you be alright on your own now?"

He nodded. "I should be. Thank you!" He winked and stuck his tongue out. Hiyori deadpanned, the rings under her eyes seeming to stand out a bit. _"If I fall asleep in class today because I was up all night guarding you, I'm cursing your name, Yato."_

"Oh, one more thing," Hiyori said, "I told everyone you got hit by a hit-and run driver while trying to save Milord. If they ask what the car looks like, say you were blinded by the headlights or something."

He nodded, and then Hiyori jumped out the window and left.

* * *

 **A FEW DAYS LATER**

Before school (It seemed that since her real body had slept, she didn't get so tired than the new usual(passing out in class)) she took a bath. On a whim, she left her body and started poking at it. She could physically touch it, as she had when she'd dragged it through that field, and stick her arm through it; she could become immaterial. She went ahead and gave her spirit form a bath, and then repeated the process with her physical one.

She'd developed a routine. Go visit Yato whenever she fell out of her body (After she did so, she couldn't go back into it for a minute or two, anyways. She was now diagnosed as having Narcolepsy) and at night, go to the hospital room and protect her new friend, talk to him, and wait for him to finish healing from the wounds he'd gained from that Ayakashi. They were healing remarkably quickly, too. He was already very bored of the hospital, and proving to be like a toddler and just as much a pain to watch after as one. Her father was releasing him the next day, something the God was very happy about.

She left the bathroom and rushed to get ready for school, clean and ready to start a new day.

...

"Iki Hiyori san?"

"Yes?" She woke up in the middle of class. "Huh? Did I fall asleep?"

She'd fallen out of her body and decided to wait until she could go back into it, meaning that moment. "Iki san, if you're still not feeling well, you should go to the nurse's office."

"Sorry, I'm fine." Hiyori blushed.

She lost her body again in PE while observing a small Ayakashi that seemed to be fond of snow. Afterwards, she stood in a tree as her friends discussed what to do with her underwear the next time she 'fell asleep' in P.E. She sighed, the cat ears she'd sprouted the other day twitching. "Man, this is rough." She watched some birds fly by. "Still…"

She started running and bouncing along the power lines. "This is fun in its own way! I'm a bird! I'm a bird!" She jumped and spun around. "A flipping, flying, bird!" Then she detected several Ayakashi nearby and stopped mid-bounce. Three huge, serpentine Ayakashi were rising up from the city in the distance. A few tube-like ones floated up behind her, and she hissed at them to scare them off.

An Ayakashi flew in front of a child on the street below and scared it, so she jumped down and flicked one of her tails to tickle it, cheering it up for the mother who couldn't see her (or the Ayakashi). Only babies, animals, and other beings could see her and the Ayakashi.

As she resumed her jog to the hospital, she spotted something. "A black haze… So that's a storm. An air of gloominess that Ayakashi like. It gives me the creeps. Yato said that possessed people become depressed and lose control of themselves." She sighed, wishing that the hospital wasn't so close to it, and headed there.

Arriving on a now familiar ledge, she opened the window.

"Hiiiyoriii!" Yato cried. "I missed you! It's so boring here!" He wailed. "I swear I'm all better now, so…"

"You'll get out of here tomorrow, on the condition that your arm stays in a cast and you wear that boot thing. If you don't, I'll have to drag you back here when you make it worse." She deadpanned.

His eyes got comic tears in them. "But Hiyori… You didn't have to stay in here half as long!"

"That's because I was fine."

"You got hit by a bus… and you were fine."

"Just a few scratches and bruises. And some 'sleeping spells'."

"Smells N...AUGH!" She punched in the face of an Ayakashi trying to get in the window, and proceeded to slice it in half. Yato blinked in surprise.

"What?" She asked.

"I didn't think you actually killed them."

"Huh?"

"I didn't think you _could._ " He elaborated.

"Well I can." She held up her claws. "Didn't you notice?"

"I was always asleep." Then he brightened up. "You're like a regalia, but better!"

"Sure. Sure. What is a Regalia, anyways?" Hiyori asked.

"An untainted spirit." He replied. "When someone dies, their soul is uncorrupted unless they committed suicide or did something horrible in life. Those spirits can then be corrupted by Ayakashi and become Ayakashi themselves. Before that, their spirit can be named by a God and turned into a divine instrument, thus saving them from turning into an Ayakashi.

"Oh." Hiyori nodded.

There was a pause. "I'M BORED!"

"You're a _child_." Hiyori snapped back.

He twitched, making a choked sound of objection, and sat up. "You're so mean, Hiyori! I don't have anything to do here!"

"Do you like Manga?"

"Huh? Well… I haven't really had time to read any."

"I'll bring you a Manga next time I visit then."

An Ayakashi roared in the distance. "There's a storm nearby."

"Gods heal fast, you know." He ignored her. "I'm probably already fine."

"FIne. I'll do a quick examination. If you're fine, and by that all the injuries on the list my father gave me are adequately healed fine, _then_ you can go."

"YES!"

"Now quiet down. Everybody here already thinks you're nuts."

"...Eh?"

"As far as anyone is concerned, I'm at school, and they can't see me, even if they can see gods, remember? You told me that."

"Oh… right. I kinda forgot about that."

She checked the stab-wounds where that bottle of coins that had shattered stabbed him. "I remember, you said it's hard for humans to see you, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Did you give them your real name or phone number?"

"No."

"Good, because you'll have to skip out without paying the medical bill."

"WHY?"

"Because it's 100000 Yen."

He choked. "But I don't have that much!"

"Exactly." Hiyori replied. "I'll have to use my life savings. My parents won't notice, because they don't know I have anything saved. What name did you use?"

"Oh, uh… Umino Sora."

"Why that?"

"It was the first thing that came to mind."

Hiyori sighed. "I'll leave it on the front desk then." She finished inspecting the wounds. "Your arm still needs the cast. Everything else seems to be functioning correctly. Just take a few steps first."

"Overprotective cat." He grumbled, standing up.

"I'M NOT A CAT!" Her tails and hair bristled.

"You look like one!" He said as he walked around with a slight limp.

She deadpanned. "Just don't put too much stress on it for now."

"Okay." He picked up his phone. "Now I'll start taking jobs aga…"

"You mean like the one that landed you in the hospital?"

"Uh…"

"Just be careful." Hiyori sighed. "I won't be around to protect you if you get into trouble, this time. Try to find a Regalia."

"Will do!" He chirped. "Thanks, Hiyori! You're the best!" He hugged her with his good arm, set her down, and then jumped out the window, making a show of landing with his weight on the unbroken leg before setting the recently healed one down.

Hiyori jumped out after him. He turned his phone on and immediately got a call. "Hello! Fast, affordable, and reliable! Delivery God Yato at your service! You need help? I'll be right there!" He vanished in a beam of light.

Hiyori stared deadpan at the place he'd vanished. Then she turned and ran back to her house to get her life life savings.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! Poor Hiyori... Oh, sorry if the price seems off, I just have no idea how much something like this would actually cost so I bullshitted. As for Hiyori having that much... She's frugal. Let's go with that. Sorry if it's unrealistic, again, I just don't know about this kind of thing.**

 **Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next one, we get Yukine, I promise!**

 **Until then... Valette Omnes!**


	4. The Uncorrupted Spirit

**Chapter 4**

 **So, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I had lots to do (summer school, vacation, etc). So, who else had school start recently? Well, welcome back to hell everyone. I hope that me updating at least cheers some of you up. Id Capitulum Fruor!**

* * *

She stood there staring at a small, fire-like spirit, uncorrupted. She could sense that much. She hadn't actually meant to find it, but she had.

She called Yato.

"Hey, Hiyori. How can I help you?"

"I just stumbled on an uncorrupted spirit."

He appeared in front of her. "What are you talking about?"

She gestured to the one behind her, which was peering out, interested in what was going on.

He blinked. "He's kind of small, isn't he?"

SLAM!

They turned and looked up at a giant, crab-like Ayakashi standing over them.

"Uh, Hiyori… can your claws cut through that?"

"Uh… Probably not."

The thing charged, and it struck the uncorrupted spirit, which shrieked, a purple haze that Yato had called a blight spreading across it before it began to morph.

"HAUL ASS!"

"Smells nice."

"CRAP! WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SO CLOSE TO A STORM!"

"EVERYTHING IS IN A STORM!"

"Smells nice."

"On a side note, I just lost my body!"

"Uh…"

He was slowing down.

She sighed. "RUN! I'll catch up with you!" She dug the claws on her toes into the ground and went into a full reverse, straight above it, and dug in with the claws on her fingers, her fur standing in end.

"PAIN!" The creature announced, leaping around in an attempt to get her off.

Then the second one, this one blue, leapt at her.

She leapt off and kicked it so it fell onto the other one, knocking it off balance, and sending them crashing towards the ground.

She also stubbed her toe.

The green one lunged and bit her arm. She hissed and then slashed its leg off with her foot-claws.

"OWW!" It started flailing around in spastic motions while announcing its pain.

"HIYORI!"

She hissed, a purple rash spreading up her arm. The other one charged, and Yato kicked it in the head with his good leg, sending it flying out of the way. They resumed running.

"I said Id catch up with you!"

"Like hell!"

They hid behind a wall.

"What's this…" She raised her hand, panting, the purple rash itching and aching.

"Be careful." He stepped back. "It'll blight me, too."

"What even is a Blight?"

"It's a kind of defilement." He examined it without touching her arm. "One that spreads. And unless you exorcise or cleanse it, it'll remain and eat away at you. We can handle that later."

Suddenly, Hiyori detected the Ayakashi approaching. "Here they come!"

"Huh?" Yato asked.

"The Ayakashi! They're coming!"

SLAM!

"Oh."

They started running away, Hiyori making sure to remain behind Yato. The other Ayakashi charged and she hit it with a Jungle Savate, sending it knocking into a wall Inwardly her fangirl side started shrieking praises to Tono..

"I can fight for myself! Be more careful!"

"I'm already blighted, so I might as well keep fighting! Besides, you're still hurt and you can't do anything without a divine instrument!"

"Get off my case! It's not my fault that Ayakashi showed up!"

Then he turned, and stopped. "A boy. A kid who looks to be in his teens. A difficult age."

"Smells nice." The green one started to climb the building and Hiyori attacked it, slashing off another leg. It roared in pain and recoiled as the blue one sailed back into the fray.

"Yato!"

"He'll do. Sorry to make you fight, but hold them off!"

Hiyori nodded.

"Smells nice!" The blue one charged, and she lunged, slashing it as deeply as she could in the stomach (not very deeply, thanks to the shell) and grabbed its leg, pulling down to knock them off the direct course they were headed towards Yato on.

It still landed close to Yato, and Hiyori, who landed first, kicked it into a power line before charging the next one and slamming into its head to shut its mouth as it tried to bite down on Yato.

She only paid half attention as he began the ceremony of making a spirit into a regalia. The rest of her attention was directed at the two Ayakashi she was fighting.

Her tails lashed around wildly as she crouched, and they converged on her. She leapt above one and grabbed the chin of the other to go under, shoving off him to kick the next one into an uninhabited playground below them.

"Come, Sekki!"

A beam of light landed in Yato's hand; a sword. The light temporarily blinded Hiyori, almost allowing an Ayakashi to land a blow.

It was a right-handed sword, useful since it was his left that was still in the cast. It was wrapped in what looked like bandages, and looked very, _very_ sharp.

The green Ayakashi got past her and charged.

"YATO!" Before she could get there, the blue one intercepted her.

"Get out of my way!" She slashed, carving into its eyes with her claws, and leapt back before its jaws could shut on her. It _howled._

Yato wasn't so lucky.

The green one swallowed him whole.

"YATO!" She screamed.

The blue Ayakashi lunged towards the sound, and she couldn't focus on her companion's fate anymore. She slammed her foot-claws into the top of its head and tore downwards. Then the other was cut apart from the inside. "REND!"

The Ayakashi exploded, and Hiyori finally found her weak point.

 _Hard skinned on the outside, weak on the inside._

She tore its leg half off and peeled it and the skin away from the wound, and then slashed there with her claws, cutting its side wide open. It fell apart like an open book and died that way.

She watched as the one Yato killed exploded, and a pretty symbol appeared in the air before vanishing.

And for some reason, when hers died, she felt refreshed, stronger, even, as she stood above its evaporating remains.

Then Yato fell out of the air, landed on the telephone poles, and plunged towards the ground.

Hiyori quickly raced over to him, unable to break his fall do to her spreading blight.

He stood up as she leapt over to him, wincing as he put weight on his leg incorrectly. "That could have gone better." He grimaced. "I swear my leg's fine, though. How's your arm?"

She looked at it. "It hasn't gotten much worse since I got it."

"Good, I know a place where we can get rid of that."

They visited the god of learning's shrine. Yato cleansed Hiyori's blight (all the way up her arm and starting on her shoulder at that point).

"You should go find your body. I'll be fine now."

Hiyori nodded. "Your Divine instrument is a person, right?"

He nodded. "When he reverts forms."

"Introduce me to him later, okay?"

"Of course!" He waved at her, and Hiyori ran off.

She leapt over rooftops and across telephone poles, fully able to enjoy herself now that the Ayakashi were dead. She was like a superhero; she rushed across the rooftops and fought monsters that nobody else knew existed, and got back relatively in time for dinner. Of course in this case she'd just left after the meal, but that was hardly relevant.

She bounced off a telephone line and listened to the twang it made, as well as the startles cries of the people below her. She landed on one of the poles and looked back, seeing people muttering to themselves, and laughed sheepishly. "Maybe I should take it easy…"

Her tails flicking behind her, she leapt off again, quickly forgetting her decision to keep the noise to a minimum. She ran over awnings and accidentally knocked over someone's potted plant as she leapt onto their balcony with a sweep of her tails, Face twisting, she kept going, and quickly forgot about it. She carved through a small Ayakashi as she ran, and may have accidentally scratched a window with one of her claws in the process. In the next five minutes, she'd settled onto the roof of her own housetop lightly, having almost completely forgotten about the trail of destruction she'd left behind her.

* * *

 **Everyone, welcome Yukine. He hasn't actually done much yet but we'll get to that. Anyways... Silly Hiyori. I wonder when that trail of destruction will come back to bite her. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I didn't make Hiyori seem OP or anything... If you have any tips, I'd like to hear them. Bonum Die Habeo!(No, I didn't say die as we say it in english, so don't worry)**


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